2. 3 Different positions

While this chapter is a broad overview of developments of the international control system, a brief comparison of the stances in both countries in this process might be useful for further reading. It reflects the different experiences in the control of narcotic substances. A difference is the position and interests of the pharmacological industries in the international trade in narcotic substances. The fact that the Netherlands until the Second World War only reluctantly
participated in establishing international control on narcotic drugs can be explained by several factors. First, there were large economic interests to protect. The Netherlands was a producing and trading nation in substances that were subject to international treaties. Secondly, domestic drug use was not defined as a social problem. A third explanation is given by de Kort: "The Dutch experiences with the opium licensing system had taught that the state could never prohibit smuggling as long as a demand for drugs existed" (de Kort 1995: 155). This means that Sweden, far from important as a producer country of drugs, was in a different position from the Netherlands when it participated in efforts to establish an international control system to regulate production of and trade in drugs. Consequently, the country did not play any important role in the first generation of the international control system of drugs. Furthermore, it did not have the same experience of combating drug trafficking as the Dutch did. In the 1960s Sweden would become one of the driving forces in establishing international control of synthetic drugs like amphetamines. It had become an important actor in the arena of the international control system.